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IAF chief arrives in Sri Lanka amid rebel offensive

The Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis, arrived in Colombo today on a five-day official visit that coincided with heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels in the island's north.

Officials said ACM Tipnis would be accorded a guard of honour at the tightly guarded air force headquarters in the Sri Lankan capital tomorrow.

Officials in Colombo and in New Delhi have stressed that the visit is unconnected with the latest fighting in the Jaffna peninsula and the Colombo government's appeal for foreign help to contain the rebels.

"The air chief marshal is accompanied by his wife Molina Tipnis and his personal staff," IAF spokesman R K Dhingra said in New Delhi.

Dhingra said Tipnis's official visit had been planned well ahead of the military crisis on the island.

Tipnis is due to visit the Sri Lankan airbase of Anuradhapura outside the island's northeastern areas where Tamil rebels are fighting government troops.

Indian military sources in New Delhi yesterday said the IAF is awaiting an official green signal to drop humanitarian aid to Sri Lankan soldiers trapped in Jaffna.

A highly placed IAF source told AFP in New Delhi that two large cargo planes are on standby at an airbase in Trivandrum, Kerala.

But India has ruled out any military intervention in Sri Lanka.

Colombo has vowed to defend Jaffna, which was captured from the LTTE in December 1995. The rebels maintained a de facto separate state there for nearly five years.

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